Why is corn commonly processed by wet milling?

Corn is commonly processed by wet milling primarily to produce cornstarch, which is highly valued in cooking for its ability to form a paste with a "short" texture that separates cleanly from molds.1

The wet milling process is utilized for several technical reasons:

• Grain Preparation: The corn is steeped in warm water containing sulfur dioxide, which softens the grain and allows for the efficient removal of the outer skin and the germ.1
• Component Separation: Because corn has a high germ content, wet milling facilitates the complete separation of the starch from the germ and other components.21
• Byproduct Recovery: The germ is rich in oil, which can be extracted to produce corn oil. This oil is a valuable edible oil used in products like margarine and shortening, as well as in various nonfood industrial applications.13

While dry milling is also practiced, particularly in developing countries, wet milling remains the standard for industrial starch production due to the purity and quality of the resulting starch and the effective recovery of valuable oil.213